80% fail their 'New Year’ resolutions but a psychologist explains why you should still make them for 2026
'People who think they have the most self-control are the most likely to fail at their resolutions...'
Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither is willpower. While we make New Year's goals, most of us quit within the first month. Dr. Kelly McGonigal, who understands it, urged people to realize it and work towards achieving it. In her book, "The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It," Dr. McGonigal opens up about the necessity of willpower and how it works. While there is a significant amount of insight in her narrative, Open Culture highlighted some of her tips in their December report.
Dr. McGonigal said ideally, we must identify a very small change that we wish to happen and be consistent in fulfilling it. Her idea is to start small and move towards a larger goal. Second, Dr. McGonigal wants people to choose a goal that they want to fulfil and not something others want them to achieve. While working towards building willpower, it's important to have a role model and surround yourself with supportive people. It's often noticed that people have the most willpower when they wake up, and it declines throughout the day. So, people should prioritize working on their goals as soon as they wake up.
Stress makes it harder for people to achieve self-control or willpower. When stressed, people activate their fight-or-flight response, often focusing on only short-term relief while ignoring the long-term goals. So, Dr. McGonigal said it's important to watch your stress levels before you decide to build your willpower. People, particularly Gen Zs, have almost forgotten what it's like to sleep on time. However, they don't realize how harmful it is for them and how it affects their ability to achieve long-term goals. "The good news is that any step toward more or better quality rest can be a real boost to self-control. When the sleep-deprived catch a better night's sleep, their brain scans no longer show signs of prefrontal cortex impairment," McGonigal said. Besides sleep, nutrition is also important. Apparently, having a more plant-based, less processed diet provides more energy while also improving willpower.
While working towards achieving your goals, it's important that we realize that change doesn't come immediately. Although it's good to be optimistic, allow yourself to validate your cravings to break your resolutions. "People who think they have the most self-control are the most likely to fail at their resolutions; they put themselves in tempting situations, don’t get help, and give up at setbacks. You need to know how you fail; how you are tempted; how you procrastinate," Dr. McGonigal added. A proper and specific plan to achieve your goals is crucial, but it's also important to be flexible. She said if someone is too rigid on their plans and if that didn't work out, then they may give up easily. There would be several small achievements along the way, and you must reward yourself at every milestone, Dr. McGonigal explained. Last but not least, if you fail, don't be too harsh on yourself; rather, let it go and start fresh.
Not being able to stand by the goals isn't something very unusual. In fact, Columbia University found that while almost half of Americans make New Year's resolutions, only 25% of them actually stay committed to their goals after the first month. They also found that less than 10% eventually accomplish their goals. Emphasizing the reason, Donald Edmondson, Associate Professor of Behavioral Medicine at Columbia’s Irving Medical Center, said, "No matter how good your intentions are, resolutions aren’t effective because behavior change is complicated and difficult to achieve." However, if you start small and are consistent while tick-marking every other tip laid out by Dr. McGonigal, resolutions for 2026 might not be as difficult as you think now.
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